It takes a lot to grab my attention when I'm in the same room as a Morrowind game. A lot. We're talking acts of God here. So when I was visiting the Bethesda booth at E3, imagine my surprise as I sat there slack-jawed, watching a guided tour of Pirates of the Caribbean. I'd heard a bit about the game before, but it wasn’t on a "must buy" list or even a "must rent" or "must steal" list or any other imaginary directory of games that I had in my head. I was impressed with what I saw though, and so I offer you, the gentle reader, a preview of this most unique RPG.

And I do not lie, Pirates is a very unique and intriguing game. Granted, it's the remains of the sequel to Sea Dogs, but that hardly takes away from the fact that it's definitely a cool-looking title. There just aren't enough pirate games available anyway, don't you think?

Want to be a Captain Restraint, the peaceful sea merchant? You can do that, but maybe you'd rather be Captain Blood and slaughter everyone you see, like a real pirate. You can behave however you want, and your actions all affect which course the game follows. You can board smaller ships, then destroy the crew and pillage the boat - and all in the name of good pirate fun. From what I saw of the game, boarding the ships is where a lot of the action takes place, as you actually get to control your pirate during the fights. As if that weren't enough violence, there are also boat-to-boat sea battles and, yes, even duels.

The entire sea environment is what sets Pirates aside from every other game ever. The water effects are absolutely incredible, as evidenced by the screenshots at the end of this preview. As you travel across the water, you'll see nice touches like water spouts, and sharks lurking under the water's surface, and you even run the risk of sailing right into a twister, where you'll have to carefully maneuver your ship and hope that you don't lose all of your crew and/or supplies.

Of course, you'll have to find yourself some dry land from time-to-time, too. Towns are where you'll go to replenish your ammo and supplies, as well as to find more crew members, should some of yours meet a bad end. New and different crew members can actually add to your abilities, so choose them carefully. You might even meet up with another captain somewhere along the way and convince him to join you, so that you might rule over a fleet of ships, much like I rule over a list of features:

• Role-play on the sea, and also on land locations like towns, caves, and smuggler's dens
• Gunplay and swordplay - both while boarding ships and during duels on land
• Some of the best looking water and weather effects yet seen on the Xbox
• Pirates - Arrrg
• Behavior and choices affect the course of the game
• Hire a crew to help you and fight with you; some will even raise your skills
• Pillage smaller ships and find treasures so that you can get yourself a bigger ship and better crew
• Loose tie-in with the Disney movie lets you pretend that you're Johnny Depp, and this time your mom won't hate you for ruining all of her scissors

Pirates of the Caribbean is a rough-talking, swashbuckling, hang-on-to-your-hat adventure.

There's my obligatory "I like this game a lot so far" quotable quote. Seriously though, I have high hopes for the game, and it looks as if it could follow in the footsteps of Morrowind before it and take a few Xbox owners by surprise when it's released next month.

Stay tuned to The Next Level for a full review of the game as soon as it's available.

  

· · · AFX